Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A method for implementing a call by a media gateway, comprising setting a master control network element in a media gateway cluster, and establishing a mapping relationship between a user number and the media gateway in the master control network element, the method further comprising: acquiring, by the media gateway, a number of a called party and requesting the master control network element to determine a called media gateway to which the called party belongs according to a number matching result, when the media gateway determines that an uplink protocol interface corresponding to a calling party is interrupted; determining, by the master control network element, the called media gateway to which the called party belongs according to the established mapping relationship, and informing the media gateway initiating a request; and completing a call between the media gateway as a calling gateway that initiates the request and the determined called media gateway to which the called party belongs; wherein the step of establishing the mapping relationship between the user number and the media gateway comprises: after each media gateway in the media gateway cluster is initiated, reporting user number information within a local media gateway to the master control network element; storing, by the master control network element, the received user number information of all media gateways in the media gateway cluster locally; and establishing, by the master control network element, the mapping relationship between each user number and the media gateway to which it belongs; or pre-configuring the mapping relationship on the master control network element manually.
A method for handling calls in a media gateway system. A master control element is designated within a cluster of media gateways. This element stores a mapping of user numbers to specific media gateways. When a media gateway detects a broken connection to the core network for a calling party, it prompts the caller for the called party's number and then asks the master control element to identify the media gateway responsible for that number. The master control element consults its stored mapping and informs the requesting media gateway. Finally, a direct call is established between the original media gateway (acting as the calling gateway) and the media gateway determined to be responsible for the called party. The mapping is established either by each media gateway reporting its local user numbers to the master control element on startup, or by manually configuring the mapping on the master control network element.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the master control network element is any media gateway in the media gateway cluster, or a server, or a computer, or a network communication equipment.
In the call handling method where a master control element maps user numbers to media gateways within a cluster, the master control element can be implemented as any media gateway in the cluster, a standalone server, a computer, or network communication equipment. This element helps media gateways determine the correct destination even when their connection to the core network is down.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step that the media gateway requests the master control network element to determine the called media gateway to which the called party belongs comprises: when the calling party is off hook, determining, by the media gateway, whether the uplink protocol interface corresponding to the calling party is interrupted; if interrupted, transmitting, by the media gateway, a dialing tone to the calling party, acquiring the called party number, performing a matching analysis on the user number, and after performing a number matching according to a user number matching rule, determining whether to inquire an address of the called media gateway to which the user number belongs from the master control network element according to a number matching result; if not interrupted, completing, by the media gateway, a calling process of the user according to an existing process, and ending the procedure of implementing a call by the media gateway.
In the call handling method where a master control element maps user numbers to media gateways, the media gateway determines whether its connection to the core network is broken when a user goes off-hook (initiates a call). If the connection is broken, it plays a dial tone, collects the dialed number, performs number analysis, and determines if a remote gateway address should be requested from the master control element. If the connection isn't broken, the call proceeds through the normal core network. The number analysis includes comparing the called number to pre-configured patterns to determine if the call should be routed internally or externally via the master control element.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein if the called party is determined to be a user of the calling media gateway according to the number matching result, performing call connection directly within the calling media gateway to complete a conversation between the calling party and the called party, and ending whole procedure.
If, during the call handling method where a master control element maps user numbers to media gateways, the dialed number matches a user on the same originating gateway, the call is directly connected within that gateway without consulting the master control element. This allows for local calls to proceed uninterrupted, even if the gateway's connection to the core network is down.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the step that the master control network element determines the called media gateway to which the called party belongs and informs the media gateway initiating the request comprises: after receiving an inquiry request from the media gateway, acquiring, by the master control network element, an address of the called media gateway corresponding to the called party number according to the established mapping relationship; if the inquiry is successful, transmitting, by the master control network element, an inquiry success response message including the address of the called media gateway to which the called party number belongs to the media gateway initiating the request; otherwise, transmitting, by the master control network element, an inquiry failure response message to the media gateway initiating the request.
In the call handling method where a master control element maps user numbers to media gateways and a gateway requests resolution of a called party's gateway, the master control element, upon receiving the request, looks up the destination gateway address based on its stored mapping. If the lookup is successful, it sends a success message containing the destination gateway's address back to the requesting gateway. Otherwise, it sends a failure message.
6. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the step that the master control network element determines the called media gateway to which the called party belongs and informs the media gateway initiating the request comprises: after receiving an inquiry request from the media gateway, acquiring, by the master control network element, an address of the called media gateway corresponding to the called party number according to the established mapping relationship; if the inquiry is successful, transmitting, by the master control network element, an inquiry success response message including the address of the called media gateway to which the called party number belongs to the media gateway initiating the request; otherwise, transmitting, by the master control network element, an inquiry failure response message to the media gateway initiating the request.
In the call handling method where a master control element maps user numbers to media gateways, even with number matching implemented to check for local numbers, the master control element, upon receiving a request for a non-local call, looks up the destination gateway address based on its stored mapping. If the lookup is successful, it sends a success message containing the destination gateway's address back to the requesting gateway. Otherwise, it sends a failure message.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step that the master control network element determines the called media gateway to which the called party belongs and informs the media gateway initiating the request comprises: after receiving an inquiry request from the media gateway, acquiring, by the master control network element, an address of the called media gateway corresponding to the called party number according to the established mapping relationship; if the inquiry is successful, transmitting, by the master control network element, an inquiry success response message including the address of the called media gateway to which the called party number belongs to the media gateway initiating the request; otherwise, transmitting, by the master control network element, an inquiry failure response message to the media gateway initiating the request.
In the call handling method where a master control element maps user numbers to media gateways, the master control element, upon receiving a request, looks up the destination gateway address based on its stored mapping. If the lookup is successful, it sends a success message containing the destination gateway's address back to the requesting gateway. Otherwise, it sends a failure message.
8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: when the media gateway determines that the uplink protocol interface corresponding to the calling party communicates normally, interacting, by each of the media gateways in the media gateway cluster, with a core network equipment independently.
Complementing the method where a master control element helps media gateways handle calls when their connection to the core network is broken, each media gateway operates independently through the core network when its connection is working normally. This ensures that the master control element is only involved when necessary, and normal traffic flows directly through the core network.
9. A system for implementing a call by a media gateway, comprising a master control network element and media gateways in a media gateway cluster, wherein the master control network element in which a mapping relationship between a user number and a media gateway is established therein is configured to receive a request from the media gateway for determining a called media gateway to which a called party belongs; determine the called media gateway to which the called party belongs according to the established mapping relationship and inform the media gateway initiating an inquiry request; the media gateway is configured to, when it is determined that an uplink protocol interface corresponding to a calling party is interrupted, initiate a self-exchange process, acquire a called party number and perform a number matching, and decide whether to transmit the request to the master control network element for determining the called media gateway to which the called party belongs according to a matching result; and receive from the master control network element information about the determined called media gateway to which the called party belongs, and serve as a calling gateway to complete a user call with the determined called media gateway to which the called party belongs; wherein establishing the mapping relationship between the user number and the media gateway comprises: each media gateway in the media gateway cluster is configured to report user number information within a local media gateway to the master control network element after being initiated; the master control network element is configured to store the received user number information of all media gateways in the media gateway cluster locally and establish the mapping relationship between each user number and the media gateway to which it belongs; or, the mapping relationship is pre-configured on the master control network element manually.
A media gateway system that can handle calls even when disconnected from the core network. It includes a master control element and a cluster of media gateways. The master control element stores a mapping of user numbers to media gateways and resolves requests from gateways that need to find the correct destination gateway. Each media gateway, when it detects a broken connection to the core network, initiates a self-exchange process, collects the called party's number, performs number matching to determine if it's an internal call, and then queries the master control element for the destination gateway. After getting the information, it establishes a direct call. Each media gateway reports local user numbers to the master control element at startup, or mapping is pre-configured on the master control network element manually.
10. The system according to claim 9 , further comprising a core network equipment, wherein, when the media gateway determines that the uplink protocol interface communicates normally, each of the media gateways interacts with the core network equipment independently.
The media gateway system featuring a master control element and gateways capable of operating even during network disconnects, also includes a core network equipment. When each media gateway confirms proper connectivity with the core network, the gateways directly communicate with the core network equipment without needing intervention from the master control element. This provides independent functionality through normal channels when available, but can switch to internal resolution when necessary.
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September 16, 2014
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